This is a really interesting post, and I can't answer all of it at all, but I can riff off some of it here and there.
In my experience there are a small but very vocal number of slash fans that insist that there needs to be sex--and not fade to black, but show-it-all sex--to be slash. For some people "slash" means "gay porn." But in my experience, the larger majority of readers get a deep pleasure from implied sex or from simple friendship stories. I write the full range in my pairing (although I'll admit I usually go for a full romance rather than friendship-only), and I'm always surprised at how many comments I get on stories where the slash is muted to the point of not existing. Some of the comments are pleas to up the ante, but a lot of people simply enjoy the interaction. I think Londo/G'Kar would definitely fit that mold.
I think for me, in my experience (you'll note I'm a hedger, I almost never will just say "this is true!" lol), "We're not Gay, We Just Love Each Other" is only a problem in a setting that problematizes being gay. That is, especially when slash was first getting started in the 70s and 80s, characters had a tendency to make announcements along the lines of "We're not some kind of deviant pansies, we're manly men...who happen to love each other." Of course that's awful, because it devalues the experience of being gay entirely and tries to separate our beloved characters from that nasty group.
But I think more modern takes on the trope are more like...an assumption that the characters (and in fact, most characters) are fundamentally bi and just haven't run into the right person of the same sex yet. I very rarely see characters struggling with the realization that they're gay or angsting over it, it's just generally a sort of "Sure, I can admire both men and women, it's just I've never gotten around to dating a man until now." I'm sure there are still problems with that take on it, but it's not quite as unpleasant as the more traditional "We're not gay, but..."
I think it's natural to be drawn to male characters who share a powerful emotional bond, and sometimes to ask "What if that bond led to something physical?" If you have two characters who share something with each other that they share with no other being, it makes sense to hypothesize a next step. But it's also just fun to read and write stories that enjoy the intensity of the bond as is. For me personally, that's why I can't enjoy pairings created solely for the "pretty factor"--let's say, Marcus/Byron. There's no emotional bond there to play on, which to me makes it solely about the sex, which is (for me) not at all the most interesting part of a slash relationship, it's just a rather natural result of hat most interesting part.
^-^ I've rambled, so sorry if I misunderstood any of your thoughts!
no subject
In my experience there are a small but very vocal number of slash fans that insist that there needs to be sex--and not fade to black, but show-it-all sex--to be slash. For some people "slash" means "gay porn." But in my experience, the larger majority of readers get a deep pleasure from implied sex or from simple friendship stories. I write the full range in my pairing (although I'll admit I usually go for a full romance rather than friendship-only), and I'm always surprised at how many comments I get on stories where the slash is muted to the point of not existing. Some of the comments are pleas to up the ante, but a lot of people simply enjoy the interaction. I think Londo/G'Kar would definitely fit that mold.
I think for me, in my experience (you'll note I'm a hedger, I almost never will just say "this is true!" lol), "We're not Gay, We Just Love Each Other" is only a problem in a setting that problematizes being gay. That is, especially when slash was first getting started in the 70s and 80s, characters had a tendency to make announcements along the lines of "We're not some kind of deviant pansies, we're manly men...who happen to love each other." Of course that's awful, because it devalues the experience of being gay entirely and tries to separate our beloved characters from that nasty group.
But I think more modern takes on the trope are more like...an assumption that the characters (and in fact, most characters) are fundamentally bi and just haven't run into the right person of the same sex yet. I very rarely see characters struggling with the realization that they're gay or angsting over it, it's just generally a sort of "Sure, I can admire both men and women, it's just I've never gotten around to dating a man until now." I'm sure there are still problems with that take on it, but it's not quite as unpleasant as the more traditional "We're not gay, but..."
I think it's natural to be drawn to male characters who share a powerful emotional bond, and sometimes to ask "What if that bond led to something physical?" If you have two characters who share something with each other that they share with no other being, it makes sense to hypothesize a next step. But it's also just fun to read and write stories that enjoy the intensity of the bond as is. For me personally, that's why I can't enjoy pairings created solely for the "pretty factor"--let's say, Marcus/Byron. There's no emotional bond there to play on, which to me makes it solely about the sex, which is (for me) not at all the most interesting part of a slash relationship, it's just a rather natural result of hat most interesting part.
^-^ I've rambled, so sorry if I misunderstood any of your thoughts!